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Asgard
Asgard is a Garden-class planet in the Procyon system, it is also the name of the Russian colony which occupies that world. To most people the planet and the the colony are synonymous and few make any distinction between the two. The K-17 Crisis When the Russian Federation first discovered Asgard in 2148 it appeared to be a viable site for future colonisation. Once the first survey teams actually arrived and began exploring the planet a critical problem was quickly uncovered, the native flora was not only inedible to humans but potentially toxic. This problem was caused by an enzyme, classified as K-17 by the surveys botanists, attached to the chlorophyll in the native plant life. This enzyme produces a dangerous reaction when absorbed by humans (and indeed most non-native life), even small doses could cause severe stomach cramps and vomiting. The median lethal dose of the enzyme was just a few grams per kilo of the eaters body weight. Attempts to remove this enzyme via genetic engineering proved unsuccessful since it was directly linked to the local floras ability to produce chlorophyll, without K-17 plants could not photosynthesize and died within a few days of germinating. Whilst the presence of local flora would not adversely effect the cultivation of some crops (such as potatoes, onions, beets, or fruit bushes) since conventional weed suppressing techniques would be sufficient, cereal fields would be in constant danger of being contaminated with local grasses. Just five or six plants per hectare could effectively destroy an entire harvest. This problem could be partially solved by cultivating rice in flooded paddy fields. The water filled field suppressed not only the local plants but also many ground dwelling insect pests. Rice cultivation however remains one of the most labour intensive agricultural methods, it is also dependent on a reliable and plentiful supply of water. The cereal problem was only finally solved in 2309 when the United States agreed to sell the HRE eight hundred Wheatree saplings and three thousand kilos of seed. Within two decades this crop had surpassed rice as the main staple source of cereal. Imported livestock would (and is) also be limited to areas where the soil had been completely sterilised of local flora and reseeded with Earth grasses. Such area would need to be constantly monitored and dosed with herbicides to keep native species absent. The problem of livestock eating native plants has yet to be solved, as a result there are few imported domesticated animals on Asgard. A few herds of goats have been established to provide milk and other dairy produce, but most meat on Asgard comes from domesticated native animals. Since 2380 the HRE has been working on genetically engineering one or more bacteria which could be introduced into the digestive system of cattle where it could remove the enzyme before ot could be digested. Population Close to seventeen million people live on Asgard, the vast majority on the Northern hemisphere. Planetary Data Asgard is unusual in that it lacks any large continental masses. Although dry land covers around 38% of the planets surface the largest land mass is just under five million square kilometres (less than half the size of Canada).﻿ Category:Colony Worlds Category:Colonies Category:Garden Worlds Category:HRE Colonies